TWENTY GANDHIS: RECLAIMING 9/11 THROUGH SATYAGRAHA

As the fifth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, many of the nation's values -tolerance, forgiveness, personal freedom, perhaps even courage itself - remaintrapped in the wreckage.

It may take another anniversary, another 9/11 - September 11, 1906, to beprecise - simply to remind us of what lies buried beneath the fear and cynicism,the ignorance and politics; and, even more importantly, to wake us up to theurgency of reclaiming those values and healing as a nation.

Around the country, and particularly in New York City, the wakeup call isabout to be sounded, as grieving Americans - grieving as much for the futurewe're bequeathing our children as for the past - proclaim 9/11 a day of healingand peace, not revenge. The memory of Mahatma Gandhi will help drive the messagehome.

The twist of historical fate juxtaposing the birth of "satyagraha," theworld's first large-scale nonviolent resistance movement, with the terror attackson the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, is downright chilling, like thesound of rhythmic tapping coming from beneath the rubble. Someone's still alivedown there! Hope floods the heart.

Led by a president incapable of protecting us but eerily adept at exploitingtragedy, we went off on a howling revenge quest against "the axis of evil" andproceeded to compound the horrors of 9/11 worldwide - turning this day intoan excuse for torture and wiretapping and the indiscriminate "shock and awe"bombing of a country that had nothing to do with what had happened.

Liz Graydon, a former middle-school teacher who is now education coordinatorfor New Yorkers for a Department of Peace, saw mention in a newsletter fromNonviolent Peace Force, which does peace work in Sri Lanka, that this September11 would be the 100th anniversary of Gandhi's movement for social justice. Notsurprisingly, "The date just jumped out at me," she told me. It immediatelybecame the focal point of plans to commemorate 9/11, and the stunning aptnessof it has lit up the national peace network.

In August 1906, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a young Indian lawyer living in SouthAfrica, was stunned almost to paralysis - "an impenetrable wall was before me,"he later wrote - upon learning about the law the province of Transvaal had justpassed, known as The Black Act, requiring Indian nationals to submit to ahumiliating registration and fingerprinting process. Its intent was obviouslyracist, a first step by the white government to marginalize and eventually expel"coloreds" from South Africa.

"I clearly saw that this was a question of life and death," Gandhi wrote. ".. . the community must not sit with folded hands. Better die than submit tosuch a law."

Gandhi called a meeting of the Indian community on September 11, which about3,000 people - Hindus, Muslims and others - attended. One angry speaker,according to Gandhi's account, declared: "If any one came forward to demand acertificate from my wife, I would shoot him on that spot and take the consequences."

Gandhi had another idea: "It will not . . . do to be hasty, impatient orangry," he said. "That cannot save us from this onslaught. But God will come toour help, if we calmly think out and carry out in time measures of resistance,presenting a united front and bearing the hardship, which such resistancebrings in its train."

Gandhi's vision, which he came to call satyagraha (a combination of Sanskritwords literally meaning "seize the truth"), held the day, indeed, kept theIndians of South Africa unified through eight years of intimidation, abuse andimprisonment. In 1914, the government agreed to end all of its anti-Indiandiscrimination. And of course, Gandhi's large-scale nonviolent resistance movementcontinued in India itself until 1947, when British colonial rule finally ended.

Graydon, who used the 1982 movie "Gandhi" in her middle school curriculum,said her students were invariably skeptical that nonviolence could accomplishanything. She recalled one boy who conceded, halfway through the film, that itwas pretty convincing, "But c'mon, Miss Graydon, there are 6 billion people onthe planet. You'll never get all of them to be nonviolent!"

She noted that the population of India at the time of Gandhi's movement was300 million. "We don't need 6 billion Gandhis," she told him. "We need 20Gandhis."

New Yorkers for a Department of Peace, in conjunction with the M.K. GandhiInstitute for Nonviolence, has organized 32 screenings of "Gandhi" around thecountry on Sept. 11, including, in New York City, at the Regal Theater, acrossthe street from Ground Zero. As far as I can tell, many other events are beingplanned that day, both in conjunction with and independent of the New Yorkevent, that will draw inspiration from this mystical confluence of anniversaries.

"Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind," Gandhi said."It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by theingenuity of man."

Maybe the time has come to learn how to use it.

-ROBERT C. KOEHLER

[End of article.]----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------THE MORAL OF THE STORY.In the morally-twisted worldview of the Anglo-American-Israeli leaders, somepeople are as if gods, whereas other people just don't matter. Nevertheless,we, the people, can challenge their primitive tribalistic "us versus them"mentality, help cure the world's ills, and uplift humankind, by adopting theThree-Step Global Ethics:1. All life is sacred and must be treated as such (this alone would eliminatemany of the world ills and protect the environment; derived from Buddhism,Taoism, and some indigenous peoples' religions, such as Aboriginal Australiansand Native Americans).2. Love every person and have reverence for every living thing (this providesrelational guidance; derived from Jesus' agape love, Buddha's compassion, andMohammed's charity).3. Do good, harm no one, renounce war and other acts of evil, engage inlarge-scale nonviolent noncooperation with evil (this provides social guidance;derived from the Judeo-Christian "Golden Rule," Hindu-Buddhist "Karma," andGandhi's "satyagraha").--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------40 NONVIOLENCE WEBSITES AND NONVIOLENT SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATIONS:

--When people no longer fear authoritya greater authority will appeardon't restrict where people dwelldon't repress how people liveif they aren't repressedthey won't protestthus the sage knows herselfbut doesn't reveal herselfshe loves herselfbut doesn't exalt herselfthus she picks this over that

Dao de Jing # 72translated by Red Pine

--The best way to end the war is to support war resisters.

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'FAIR USE: DEFINED'In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site isdistributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest inreceiving the included information for research and educational purposes.For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

Mocking Bush is my patriotic duty

A comedian explains how cruel jokes about the president can stop terrorism.

By Bill Maher

Sep. 08, 2006 | New rule: Bad presidents happen to good people. Amid all the 9/11 anniversary talk about what will keep us safe, let me suggest that in a world turned hostile to America, the smartest message we can send to those beyond our shores is, "We're not with stupid." Therefore, I contend -- with all seriousness -- that ridiculing this president is now the most patriotic thing you can do. Let our allies and our enemies alike know that there's a whole swath of Americans desperate to distance themselves from Bush's foreign policies. And that's just Republicans running for reelection.

Now, of course, you're gonna say, "But Bill, ridiculing Bush is like shooting fish in a barrel," or, as Dick Cheney calls it, "hunting." Maybe, but right now it's important, because America is an easily misunderstood country these days -- a lot of the time it's hard to make out what we're saying over the bombs we're dropping.

But we are not all people who think putting a boot in your ass is the way to solve problems, because even allowing that my foot lodged in your ass would feel good, which I don't -- what then? OK, my boot is in your ass, but I can't get it out, so I'm not happy, and it's in you, so you're not happy -- there's no exit strategy.

Anyone who opposes the indefinite occupation of Iraq shouldn't be labeled an al-Qaida supporter. That's like saying that if I tell my exterminator that there are more efficient ways to rid the house of vermin than hitting them with a hammer, I'm "for the rats."

Questioning whether it still makes sense to keep troops under fire is supporting the troops. Asking for a plan supports the troops; asking when they'll be leaving supports the troops. Sitting around parsing the definition of "civil war" doesn't support the troops, it supports the president, and he's not a soldier, he just plays one on TV.

So yes, for the sake of homeland security, I ridicule the president -- but it gives me no pleasure to paint him as a dolt, a rube, a yokel on the world stage, a submental, three bricks shy of a load, a Gilligan unable to find his own ass with two hands. Or, as Sean Hannity calls it, "Reaganesque."

No, it pains me to say these things, because I know deep down George Bush has something extra -- a chromosome. Cruel? Perhaps, but it may just have saved lives. By doing the extra chromosome joke, I sent a message to a young Muslim man somewhere in the world who's on a slow burn about this country, and perhaps got him to think, "Maybe the people of America aren't so bad. Maybe it's just the rodeo clown who leads them. Maybe the people 'get it.'" We do, Achmed, we do!

And that's why making fun of the president keeps this country safe. The proof? I've been doing it nonstop for years, and there hasn't been another attack. Maybe the reason they haven't attacked us again is they figured we're already suffering enough.

If I could explain one thing about George W. Bush to the rest of the world it's this: We don't know what the hell he's saying either! Trust me, foreigners, there's nothing lost in translation, it's just as incoherent in the original English. Yes, we voted for him -- twice -- but that's because we're stupid, not because we're bad. Bush is just one of those things that are really popular for a few years and then almost overnight become completely embarrassing. You know, like leg warmers, or Hootie and the Blowfish, or white people going, "Oh no you di-int."

So while honoring the anniversary of September 2001, we must also never forget September 2000. That's the month when Gov. George W. Bush said, "I know that human beings and fish can coexist peacefully." If you don't believe me, you can look it up on both internets. The world changed on 9/11. He didn't. That's why we owe it to ourselves, and our children, to never stop pointing out that George W. Bush is a gruesome boob.

Project Censored Announces the Release of theTop 25 Most Censored Stories for 2005-06

For thirty years Project Censored at Sonoma State University has been reporting the real news that corporate media refuses to cover. The 250 student researchers and faculty find cutting-edge news stories that go under-reported in the mainstream corporate media. Real news is not there for the selling of material goods or entertainment. Real news can only be measured through its success in building democracy, stimulating grassroots activism, and motivating resistance to top-down institutions. Democratic activism underlies the purpose, reason, and message of free speech. Here again is Project Censored’s release of the news that didn’t make the news—a compilation of the best examples of journalism that the corporate media marginalized in 2005-06.

Full reviews of the stories are published in Censored 2007: 30th Anniversary Edition from Seven Stories Press, available at: http://www.projectcensored.org/

1. Future of Internet Debate Ignored by MediaThroughout 2005 and 2006, a large underground debate raged regarding the future of the Internet. Referred to as “network neutrality,” the issue has become a tug of war with cable companies on the one hand and consumers and Internet service providers on the other.

2. Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to IranAs recently as January of 2005 and a decade before Halliburton sold key components for a nuclear reactor to an Iranian oil development company in violations of US sanctions.

3. Oceans of the World in Extreme DangerSea temperature and chemistry changes, along with contamination and reckless fishing practices intertwine to imperil the world’s largest communal life source.

4. Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the USThe number of hungry and homeless people in US cities continued to grow in 2005.

5. High-Tech Genocide in CongoThe world's most neglected emergency is the ongoing tragedy of the Congo, where six to seven million have died since 1996 as a consequence of invasions and wars sponsored by western powers trying to gain control of the region's mineral wealth

6. Federal Whistleblower Protection in JeopardySpecial Counsel Scott Bloch, appointed by President Bush in 2004, is overseeing the virtual elimination of federal whistleblower rights in the US government.

7. US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and IraqThe American Civil Liberties Union released documents of forty-four autopsies held in Afghanistan and Iraq October 25, 2005. Twenty-one of those deaths were listed as homicides. These documents present irrefutable evidence that US operatives tortured detainees to death during interrogation.

9. The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine WallDespite the 2004 International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision that called for tearing down the Israel-Palestinian Wall—construction of the Wall has accelerated using World Bank funds.

10. Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More CiviliansA key element of Bush’s drawdown plans in Iraq includes increased uses of airpower. Expanded air strikes will likely lead to increased civilian deaths.

12. Pentagon Plans to Build New LandminesThe US plans to resume production of antipersonnel landmines.

#13 New Evidence Establishes Dangers of RoundupNew studies reveal that Roundup, the most widely used weed killer in the world, poses serious human health threats.

14. Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the USHalliburton’s subsidiary KBR has been awarded a $385 million contingency contract by the Department of Homeland Security to build detention camps in the United States for immigrations surges and “news programs.”

15. Chemical Industry is EPA’s Primary Research PartnerThe American Chemical Council is now EPA’s leading research partner

16. Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal CourtEcuador and Mexico have refused to sign bilateral immunity agreements (BIA) with the US, in ratification of the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty, despite the Bush Administration’s threat to withhold economic aid

17. Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC AgendaThe US occupation of Iraq has been used by the US to acquire access to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

18. Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 StoryResearch by Brigham Young University physics professor, Steven E. Jones, concludes that the official 9/11 explanation for the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings is implausible according to laws of physics

19. Destruction of Rainforests Worst EverNew developments in satellite imaging technology reveal that the Amazon rainforest is being destroyed twice as quickly as previously estimated

20. Bottled Water: A Global Environmental ProblemConsumers spend a collective $100 billion every year on bottled water in the belief—often mistaken—that it is better for us than what flows from our taps. Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.

22. Billions in Homeland Security Spending UndisclosedMore than $8 billion in Homeland Security funds has been doled out to states since the September 11, 2001 attacks, but the public has little chance of knowing how this money is actually being spent.

23. US Oil Targets Kyoto in EuropeLobbyists funded by the US oil industry have launched a campaign in Europe aimed at derailing efforts to enforce the Kyoto Protocol against global warming

24. Cheney’s Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last YearVice President Dick Cheney’s stock options in Halliburton rose from $241,498 in 2004 to over $8 million in 2005, an increase of more than 3,000 percent

25. US Military in Paraguay Threatens RegionSouth American countries are concerned that a massive air base at Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay is designed to be a US military stronghold in the region.

The threat was delivered in May by text message - quit journalism or you'll be beheaded. The IWPR reporter ignored the warning on his cell phone and got on with his job - but more intimidation followed.

In his hometown Hawije, in Kirkuk province, people tend to take such threats very seriously, as it's a stronghold of Sunni insurgents who frequently target Iraqi and multinational troops. The violence has forced many residents to flee the area.

The reporter's wife, worried that the militants would kill her husband or that he might die in crossfire while out reporting, finally persuaded him to leave too. They packed their bags and move to somewhere safer in the south.

" [The text messages] accuse me of sectarianism but I have no connection to any political party and only work for IWPR," said the journalist.

Reporters in Iraq are facing constant intimidation and often risking their lives to cover the political and security crisis. More have died within the last three years than in 20 years of war in Vietnam.

According to a statistic from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, 77 reporters working on assignments inside the country have been killed since April 2003, of which 56 were Iraqis.

Reporters Sans Frontieres, RSF, suggests that as many as 100 members of the media have been killed in Iraq between March 2003 and August 2006.

IWPR continues to train journalists and publish their work, despite the spiraling violence. The Institute's Iraqi trainees say they are determined to improve their skills and publish weekly, as they believe they are contributing to a better understanding of the conflict.

But they are having to exercise more and more caution when out on assignment because of the growing dangers, and are sometimes unable to take on commissions when they judge that the situation is just too risky.

However, so many trainees have passed through IWPR's training programmes over the last three years that the Institute now has an extensive network of contributors to its ICR report - enabling weekly publication even when the security situation makes journalistic work particularly challenging.

"Fortunately, after three years of training, we have reporters almost everywhere in Iraq. So if we need something from Ramadi where no reporter dare go, we can call someone inside the town who has been living their for some time and, with great caution, is still able to move around and get information," said Susanne Fischer, the IWPR Iraq country director.

"Also, the reporters have created a good network among themselves and help each other out whenever they can. If they hear of an imminent threat, they all share the information and warn each other."

Most IWPR reporters have escaped the worst of the intimidation and violence, but some have unfortunately fallen victim to it.

Two weeks ago, former IWPR trainee Ayad Nusaif, 34, was found dead in Baghdad. Nusaif worked for several Iraqi newspapers and media institutions. In fall 2004, he attended an IWPR training course in Sulaimaniyah.

Nusaif had been kidnapped in Palestine Street in Baghdad in July and had not been heard of since. His body was found close to where he was abducted. He had been strangled.

Colleagues said he had received - and ignored - numerous warnings to stop working as a journalist.

The Baghdad-based Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, JFO, an Iraqi watchdog keeping track of violent acts against the Iraqi press, is urging the government "to keep its promises to protect those who work in the media and to pursue those who target journalists".

Insurgents and kidnappers are not the only danger for the Iraqi press.

On March 26, IWPR trainee Kamal Anbar, 28, was shot dead during a controversial raid by American and Iraqi soldiers on a mosque in the Shia neighbourhood of Ur in Baghdad.

Kamal was working on a story about families displaced by ethnic violence and was on his way to the mosque for an interview when the raid began. He was hit by several bullets in the face and neck and died at the scene (ICR 171, April 5, 2006).

An IWPR Baghdad-based reporter said it was hard for journalists to operate freely because the country was " inflected with sectarianism".

He wanted to become a journalism to "reflect the truth and to show suffering of people", but now he doesn't even dare tell people who he is or what he does.

"Militias kill and detain people because [they're either] Shia or Sunni. If I showed them my press ID, they would accuse me of being a collaborator and kill me on the spot," he said.

When Jeish al-Mahdi, the militia of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took control of his neighbourhood, the IWPR reporter escaped to Karbala.

He returned to the capital a month later but is still hiding with relatives.

"I feel desperate," he said. "We were promised freedom and democracy but the situation is quite the opposite."

Despite the difficulties he is facing, the reporter has resumed reporting but with great caution.

"I can't trust even [Iraqi] police and army," he said after witnessing security forces and militia members chasing panicked civilians in a Baghdad neighbourhood.

Another IWPR reporter said he fled the capital to a Shia province after a government official alerted him that his name was found on the wanted list of a militant group in his neighborhood. But he says he still feels unsafe because of clashes between different Shia fractions where he lives now.

Security is particularly bad in several Sunni provinces in central Iraq. In Baquba, capital of Diyala province, violence is escalating, making it impossible for reporters to work. Al-Qaeda chief in Iraq Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi was killed by an American airstrike just a few kilometres away in June 2006.

"The situation is out of control and the government exists only on satellite channels while in reality the country is run by militias, linked to neighbouring states, who aim to destabilise Iraq," said a Baquba-based IWPR reporter.

Whenever asked, he denies he works in journalism after once narrowly escaping death at the hands of the militants. These days the journalist - who has lost two relatives in the violence - rarely leaves his house, and is not sure he can put up with the pressure much longer.

"I've started to think about quitting journalism and look for a different job," he said.

But the prevailing mood among IWPR reporters is one of defiance."If we quit, those who threaten us have won. We cannot let that happen," a group of IWPR reporters stated during a recent training session in Sulaimaniyah.

Reflecting the views of many of his colleagues, the IWPR reporter who fled the capital to a Shia province said, "I believe in journalism. We have to be faithful and make use of what we learned."

The Institute's training programme in Sulaimnaiyah - which has escaped the violence afflicting the rest of the country - offers reporters from all over Iraq a range of journalism courses, but also provides some respite from the conflict and a chance to recharge their batteries.

A female IWPR reporter from Baghdad said, "After each training in Sulaimaniyah where Kurds, Sunnis and Shia sit together in the classroom, I return to Baghdad with new hopes that we Iraqis might still be able to achieve a life together in peace."

Nesir Kadhim is an IWPR contributor in Baghdad. Ferhad Murasil, IWPR Arabic editor in Sulaimaniyah, contributed to this report. All journalists quoted work or worked for IWPR in Iraq.

The reports are also being published on the web in English, Arabic and Kurdish.

This project is supported by Britain's Department for International Development (DFID), the Polden Puckham Charitable Foundation and International Media Support. IWPR also thanks the following for institutional and development support which has assisted in the launch of this project: the Dutch Foreign Ministry, the Ford Foundation and the Ploughshares Foundation.

For further details on this project, other publications and IWPR educational and media development programmes, visit: www.iwpr.net

This article/news event/clipping/essay is copyrighted material, the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.